Naval Air Station Whidbey Island is one of Washington State’s 3 navy bases, and is located in 2 locations in Oak Harbor, Washington. It’s a fairly old base, and it was commissioned officially on September 21, 1942. The primary portion of the base is known as Ault Field, named after Commander William B. Ault, who was labeled as MIA in the Battle of the Coral Sea. The airfield is about 3 miles north of Oak Harbor. The other, smaller section of the base is called the Seaplane Base. Though it’s smaller, the Seaplane Base has most of the housing, as well as the main Navy Exchange.

Naval Base Kitsap is one of 3 navy bases in Washington State, and is located on the Kitsap peninsula. It’s a recent addition to the navy lineup, as it was actually created in 2004. The base was not really “built” specifically, but it was actually made up of 2 bases that were intended to be closed, but were combined instead. These two bases were Naval Station Bremerton and Naval Submarine Base Bangor, which combined to form the modern Naval Base Kitsap. Naval Base Kitsap is currently the largest navy facility in Navy Region Northwest, and has installations in Bremerton, Bangor and Keyport.

Naval Station Everett, which is located in Everett, Washington, is the navy’s most modern facility. Located around 25 miles north of Seattle, the base was built very recently in 1994. Naval Station Everett was designed for, and is currently used for, the storage of the Navy Carrier Strike Group. There are currently 2 destroyers, 1 nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 3 frigates stationed at NS Everett, as well as several Coast Guard boats.